On December 13th, friend Simon and I went to Portland to catch Dinosaur Jr.’s west coast tour featuring an interview by Henry Rollins, a Scratch Acid reunion and a set by Pierced Arrows. It was an awesome day– Simon and I walked around various PDX neighborhoods, went to Powell’s, took a stroll in the park, and had dinner at sushi joint in Old Town. For the entirety of the show, Simon and I closely guarded our front stage real estate, even through the crazy Scratch Acid set. I thought I was going to die. I protected myself by fiercely grabbing the stage and pushing away, lest my lower body be crushed to death by throngs of people in the frenzied pit. Yow grabbed my head and hair a couple of times, using it for balance as he leaned into the crowd. GROSS. Afterwards, Dino Jr. took the stage, playing a few hits before launching into their 1988 classic “Bug” in its entirety.  The best thing about the show was being able to watch Henry Rollins squatting stage left throughout the Dino set, tears running down his face during a couple more poignant tunes. Rollins has been a fan since the beginning of J’s career. It was an amazing, unforgettable show; I felt like I was 16 again… exactly a half a lifetime ago.

At the beginning of December, I went on an Eastern Washington and Oregon Adventure for a few days. I stopped in a few small towns but I spent the most time in Walla Walla, WA and Pendleton, OR. Once you cross the Cascade Range, The true, rainy, green Pacific Northwest disappears and is replaced with golden rolling hills, farmland and sage brush. Really, eastern Oregon and Washington are almost indistinguishable from Idaho and western Montana. The vastness of the landscape is refreshing. In the Pacific Northwest, the sky seemingly  hangs low enough to touch it; there’s a finite space between your feet and the low clouds that sometimes obscure the tops of the tallest Douglas Firs. Over the mountains, there’s space– miles and miles of landscape uninterrupted by forests and mountains– the sky, untouchable.

The lovely Theresa Pfarr tied the knot in a Vegas Chapel inside the Luxor. After the ceremony, I rode in the limo with the wedding party and documented a few stops along the Vegas Strip with group photos. The reception involved delicious tapas, homemade decorations and a ton of dancing. An uproarious good time was had by all… so uproarious, in fact, that the bride lost her wedding license along the way. Happy trails, Theresa and Sean!

The first weekend of this past November, I flew to Las Vegas to witness friend Theresa Pfarr tie the knot. I was excited to spend time in Vegas as I had previously only driven through it on my way to friend Nic’s wedding in Death Valley back in March. However, Vegas showed itself as a true vortex of human vice and excess; I couldn’t stop thinking about the sheer amount of energy needed to sustain such an unnatural environment in the middle of a desert. The strip alone was overwhelming for this Pacific Northwest hippie. I felt like I was walking around with my mouth open in disbelief every time I ventured out of my hotel room. Luckily, Emily Hall and her new husband Jun were there to explore Vegas with me. After a day walking around generally acting like the tourists we were, Emily, Jun and I went to the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef. It was actually a beautiful aquarium and, you know, if you’re a nature nerd in Vegas, it’s a pretty cool place to get away from the strip’s perpetual mall vibes.

Next Post: The Wedding

Welcome to 2012. The world may be ending but, what the hell, it’s way past time for a new website. The wonderful Forrest Peaker at SlowClouds designed my site so hey, hire him! I feel more professional already. Thank you, Forrest!

Please check out and subscribe to Printopia as I complete print and photography related book reviews and conduct interviews with artists living and working in the Pacific Northwest. New work is making its way onto the net, which is exciting and a little terrifying. There’s now also a bona fide photography section where I will be placing favorite photographic images. In fact, the homepage is devoted to the “photograph of the week” which will feature, you guessed it, a new photograph each week. My teaching and student work area is expanded and updated, so hey, hire me!

Play will remain an outlet for sharing my adventures, thoughts and photographs. Eventually, I will upload all my old blog posts from 2004 -2008 for posterity and the fun of it. Maybe my own way-back feature, or something. Oh, and duuuuuuuuuudes… I totally have comments now so leave a nice note or something. I am currently blog-backlogged, so look for posts on Las Vegas weddings, Eastern Oregon adventures, Christmas in Kentucky, and the WWE’s live RAW tour in Yakima!

In the middle of October, myself and PIAPTK and family made a day long trek to the beautiful Goldmyer Hot Springs. The hot springs are immaculately maintained and are located on private property. A Seattle based land trust manages the springs, and caretakers are entrusted to the site for 6 months to a year long interval. Only 20 people are admitted each day to limit impact to the surrounding environment. I did not take any photos of the springs themselves as it was constantly full of bathers for the few hours we were there. The water falls into three pools, each cooler in temperature. The spring was discovered while mining in the early 1900s and has been a destination for soakers for over 100 years. It’s a trek to get there: 15 miles on a gravel road with myriad potholes and then a five mile hike in on an old forestry road. We left Oly at 6am and didn’t return until after 10pm. We had dinner at a nearby Northwest pop-culture attraction… and dessert featuring a damn fine cup of coffee and a delicious slice of cherry pie. (P.S. The owls are not what they seem.)

Back in September before the quarter started, friend Kai and I visited Seattle’s venerable Vera Project for the opening reception of “Vera – Vera: International Poster Show.” The show was made possible by a grant from 4 Culture and featured nearly two decades of gig posters from Vera Groningen in Holland and The Vera Project in Seattle, an all-ages space created based on their Holland namesake. Over 100 masterfully designed and printed posters covered the walls. It was awesome to see such an influential body of work in person.